By John Moore, Columnist
Sometimes the best things in life are those times when the unexpected happens, that is, in a good way. This recently happened to my wife and myself when we visited our friends Francis and Wendy Tavenir in Lunenburg. We hadn’t really discussed what we were going to do but given he owns a small fleet of Outlander kayaks a paddle in Lunenburg harbour and beyond was not out of the question. When we arrived, Wendy asked if we got her message. We shook our heads and she proceeded to tell us the Picton Castle, a three masted barque, was coming home to Lunenburg and that we would like to go out and greet it. A friend who owns a lobster boat had invited them and we could come along as well if we wanted to. “Would we like to?” she asked. I ‘m not sure who said yes first but it wasn’t long before we were on our way to the lobster boat aptly named the Nellie Row.
Upon arriving there was a small group waiting for us and we were warmly greeted by Captain Gail Atkinson. It turns out she is one of the few female lobster boat captains in Canada and has mainly an all female crew. Our friend’s daughter Daina was on board whom we were happy to see as it had been a few years.
Our excitement was mounting and soon the engines roared up and we were on our way. As we were heading out of the harbour, I noticed a yacht at one of the ship repair facilities at the head of the harbour. I was told it belonged to the owner of Carnival Cruise lines and he lives on the yacht year round. Not a bad gig I thought. As we made our way further, I noticed a couple of big black and white floating cylinders. Oh, that’s for holding rum, came the response. Apparently, the wave action makes it taste much better. “That certainly gives a whole new meaning to rum running” I joked.
We gradually made our way further out and there were some smaller boats alongside as we made our way to greet the Picton Castle. One of the people on board had been a crew member on the Picton Castle for 14 months. She was giving us the play by play of how it all worked. Someone asked if she ever got bored while on the Picton Castle to which she responded, “Only boring people get bored” she said there was always something to do. At that point we were passing the infamous Ovens which are owned by the brother of the late great musician Harry Chapin.
We were hoping to see some dolphins or maybe seals. At that point we spotted the Picton Castle in the distance. It was a great site with its 3 masts out in full fold. Soon it was to our bow, and we let out several large horn blasts to which she responded with an even greater barrage of sound. It was just a beautiful site to witness to see all the crew members waving at us as we waved back.
As we made our way closer to the dock area hundreds of people were now assembled on the wharves waving and cheering the Picton Castle on. It was quite an emotional homecoming given these crew members had been away for 13 months.
As quick as our adventure began it was over. We thanked Captain Gail and her crew for allowing us to be part of this wonderful greeting party. She then said to our friend Wendy “I have something for you” One of the crew members began pulling on a rope and at the end of it was a lobster pot full of lobster. She said, “Help yourself” Needless to say when we got back to our friend’s place, we had one of the best lobster feeds ever.
All in all, this whole unexpected adventure turned out to be up there with one of our best memories ever. In life don’t be afraid to embrace the unexpected as you never know what greatness God has planned for you. Happy August!
